Hypertonia, i e. high-blood pressure, is one of the most frequent causes of cardiovascular diseases, particularly of apoplexies. Even though it has long been known from investigations made with twins that hypertonia is due to genetic factors, the ethological and pathogenetic factors are still largely unknown at present. Although molecular methods have accelerated the research of hypertonia, particularly with transgenic animals, they also have made clear that hypertonia is a heterogeneous and complex disease that is caused by gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. The search for genes linked to hypertonia has not yet yielded any satisfactory results.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a product by which the genetic cause of hypertonia can be investigated.
According to the invention, this is achieved by the subject matter defined in the claims.